


The Fight

by Jen425



Series: For The Republic [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: ...pretty much defines Star Wars in two words, A not-so-happy reminder that Dooku used to be a Jedi, Anakin and Padme are as subtle as a brick to the face, And they know it, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Dysfunctional Family, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Jedi Culture, Lightsabers, Padme made her choice even if it will haunt her forever, Protective Obi-Wan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-30
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2019-02-22 11:10:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13165701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jen425/pseuds/Jen425
Summary: “Mistress Padme, Master Kenobi is here to see you.”Threepio’s voice shakes Padme from her pity party on the floor of her office. She’s still holding Anakin’s lightsaber, but she quickly hides it in her sleeve, just like… Padme shakes her head, wiping the tears from her face and moving to stand in front of her desk. It’s horrible timing, but Padme’s been expecting this conversation for… two weeks.“Let him in, Threepio,” she says with a sigh.Obi-Wan steps in, and his eyes are blazing.





	The Fight

**Author's Note:**

> Exactly what you think it is. They both sound all wrong, but, well... there's a reason I consider "The Truth" the best oneshot in the series.

“Mistress Padme, Master Kenobi is here to see you.”

 

Threepio’s voice shakes Padme from her pity party on the floor of her office. She’s still holding Anakin’s lightsaber, but she quickly hides it in her sleeve, just like… Padme shakes her head, wiping the tears from her face and moving to stand in front of her desk. It’s horrible timing, but Padme’s been expecting this conversation for… three weeks.

 

“Let him in, Threepio,” she says with a sigh.

 

Obi-Wan steps in, and his eyes are blazing. Padme sighs again.

 

“Master Kenobi.”

 

“Senator,” he says, and, despite the anger in his eyes, his voice is the same calm as always, “How are you?”

 

Padme turned away, crossing her arms in front of her.

 

“We both know why you’re here, Obi-Wan. You know I’m not fine, and I know that you’re angry. Let’s stop pretending, now.”

 

She’s sick of secrets. She’s been mourning her own mistakes in secret. She married in secret. Now, with Anakin’s lightsaber with her and halfway across the Galaxy from him, she might become his widow in secret.

 

If Obi-Wan is here to yell at her and blame her, he can do it openly.

 

And oh does he.

 

“Very well,” he says, “Let’s start with this. Congratulations, Padme, you’ve cut the war in half, and it only took trading Grievous for Anakin, somebody entirely devoted to you, who’s put you above everything else time and time again. You did well, Padme. Perhaps, if we’re lucky, Anakin will survive until he’s found, and he’ll run right _back_ to you, even if he never trusts you again-”

 

“Don’t think for an instant that I don’t know that, Obi-Wan. I knew he was lost to me the moment I made my choice. It was for the Republic.”

 

Padme is starting to get mad, now. She knows how true the words ring, but he acts like he’s never done the exact same thing. Yes, nothing of this degree, but she knows that there are reasons why Anakin didn’t want her telling him about what happened on Tatooine, and it’s _not_ because he trusted Obi-Wan completely.

 

Slowly, she turns around, to tell him exactly what she thought.

 

“And Anakin obviously lost his trust in you _long_ before we met again, _Master Jedi_ . Our relationship is very low down on _that_ list.”

 

Obi-Wan… just seems to loose his anger, now. She wonders what sparked it today, on the same day that she had found Anakin’s lightsaber.

 

Obi-Wan sighs once, very deeply, and he responds.

 

“Trust me, I know. I’ve seen his mind and soul, I know. Anakin… once you gain his love, it’s absolute. He would kill for us, or die for us, without a second thought no matter _what_ we do… but, if you lose his trust… he’ll never confide in you again…” Obi-Wan trails off.

 

“I promised myself not to come here, not to _fight_ with you, because, a long time ago, I promised myself that I would _never_ hurt what made Anakin happy, but do you know what was sent to me today?”

 

“No,” Padme says, even as she thinks of the ‘saber hidden in the sleeve of her Senate dress. What might Obi-Wan have been given of equal worth? (How had they been given in the first place? She wonders... Anakin had told her many things he wasn't supposed to, including things about a Sith high up in the government.)

 

Obi-Wan sighs again.

 

“I found, delivered to me in a normal box, his mechanical hand,” he says softly, “The only thing worse would be if it was his lightsaber.”

 

 _“This weapon_ is _my life.” Anakin had said in that voice he only got when he was being adorably sincere._

 

_And Padme had pushed it away._

 

Padme takes the ‘saber from out of her sleeve.

 

“I guess Count Dooku has a sense of humor. He gives Anakin’s life to the woman who gave it away, and Anakin’s pain to the man who only ever wished him happiness,” she says, slowly walking forwards to put the ‘saber in his hands.

 

“You should keep this. The Jedi will ask questions if I… if I’m the one to return it to him.”

 

She hopes. By _Goddess_ does she hope that Anakin is rescued. She can’t… she _knows_ he’s not dead, yet, knows it deep in her soul, but… for how long can even _Anakin_ last when Dooku had all but told her that Anakin was going with him, and him alone, when she’s gone through _every_ report she can to find even traces of Dooku.

 

Obi-Wan only smiles, sadly, and she knows that he believes her words about as much as she herself does.

 

“Yes, it’s much safer this way,” he says.

 

Padme laughs, slightly.

 

"Tell them that you got the 'saber, and I got the hand. You came over here when you got it to see if Dooku had sent me anything. It’s enough of the truth to be believable."

 

“It was good to see you, Padme.”

 

“And you, Obi-Wan. Please, if you find anything…”

 

Padme trails off, and Obi-Wan’s sad smile softens.

 

“I’ll tell you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Obi-Wan is a calm, collected, perfect Jedi Master, but even he has limits, and finding your student/son/best friend/brother's hand definitely gets you wanting to hate someone, and, since he actually had nothing to do with Anakin's capture, Obi-Wan is actually blaming someone ELSE for a change.
> 
> Padme, meanwhile, is still stewing in the knowledge that ALL OF THIS IS HER OWN DAMN FAULT, even if she knows that Grievous's trial is only 4 weeks away (also, Star Wars time! For those of you who don't already know, a week in SW is 5 days long, so it's been about 2 of our weeks since Anakin was captured.). She knows that this cut the war in half, but she also knows just what it took to do so.
> 
> She also knows that Obi-Wan loves almost as deeply as Anakin, and is much more forgiving about it. She knows that Obi-Wan would kill or die for Anakin, and she... she doesn't know if she herself always would. 
> 
> Especially now.
> 
> As for the lightsaber, well, if Padme didn’t know Jedi Culture very well, she wouldn’t understand just what a lightsaber means. If Padme weren’t close with Anakin, it would have made more logical sense to swap the gifts. (and not only was it Padme's personal comm that Dooku called, but Anakin totally had her number saved under something cute like "my Angel" or something to be "subtle", and Padme definitely knows that, so the fact that Dooku contacts her also means that he knows about her and Anakin. (It doesn’t process immediately, but she bursts out in hysterical laughter when she realizes just what this means.)) To an outsider, an arm would be much more horrifying than a sword.
> 
> find me on tumblr [@flaim-ita](https://flaim-ita.tumblr.com/)


End file.
